Psystar surrenders to Apple

Apple has reportedly accepted Psystar’s offer of surrender by signing a partial settlement agreement with the controversial Mac clone manufacturer. The truce between the two companies was negotatiated after months of intense legal skirmishing which left Psystar bloodied and bankrupt. 

Psystar’s decision to forfeit the unwinnable war was undoubtedly prompted by a recent court ruling which determined that the clone manufacturer had infringed Apple’s “exclusive right” to create derivative works of Mac OS X by replacing original files with unauthorized software.

Following the ruling, Apple asked the Northern District Court of California to impose a permanent injunction against Psystar. The Cupertino-based company also demanded that the clone manufacturer reimburse it for statutory damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.

Psystar has apparently agreed to pay $2.7 million in damages once all appeals have been exhausted. In return, Apple will drop all trademark, trade-dress and state law claims.??

According to MacNN, Psytar may now be able to continue selling PCs – even if Mac OS X can no longer be bundled with its product line.

The company has also submitted a motion to exclude its Rebel EFI Hackintosh patch from any injunction, which would allow customers to install Mac OS X without the direct involvement of Psystar.??

“Psystar’s end users do not engage in commercial use of Mac OS X and their use would qualify as use for ‘internal purposes’ even under the standards articulated by Apple in its summary-judgment briefing,” the company explained in a filing. 

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